Denver Mayor: We’ll Hit Point Where Our Sanctuary City Must Turn Away Migrants, ‘Not Enough’ ‘Work’ or Housing

On Tuesday’s edition of NBC’s “Meet the Press Now,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated that the sanctuary city will “hit a capacity at which we just won’t be able anymore to manage the amount of inflow” and “we’re hitting a breaking point at which there’s just not enough volume of work or housing in the city to support this ongoing volume,” and so they’ll have to consider turning away buses of migrants.

Host Garrett Haake asked, “[Y]ou’ve said you’ve not considered turning away any of these buses of migrants that are coming to your city. But is there a point at which that’s something Denver might have to do or it’s something you might have to consider?”

Johnston responded, “Yeah, we’re going to hit a capacity at which we just won’t be able anymore to manage the amount of inflow. And so, we’re trying to avoid that problem, but we know we can’t keep growing at this pace. When I took the oath of office six months ago, we had about 400 migrants in shelter[s]. We have more than ten times that number right now. We’ve brought 35,000 through this year. And, remarkably, we’ve been able to get 99% of them up and placed into housing or work or onward travel. And so, we have been very successful, but now we’re hitting a breaking point at which there’s just not enough volume of work or housing in the city to support this ongoing volume, not to mention the impact on city budgets.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett